Life, a Long Sorrow

Life is a sorrow that stretches through time.

Like the moon still drifting across the sky,

As a shadow.
Just as the ribs within our chests
Keep breaking, again and again,
As the Bargis devour the harvest
And leave the fields stripped bare,

Trees stand wounded
Upon the breast of nature.

Has anyone ever imagined
Such an unfamiliar world
Upon the sky
Or upon the earth?

Life is a sorrow that stretches through time.

And yet, it grows.

Along the basin of life,
How much it carries with it—
How many memories,
How many unspoken burdens
Flow through its depths.

Still, it befriends the sunlight.
It shimmers and smiles
In the flowing breath of the wind.

It awakens love.
It awakens sorrow.

And still, it sways,
Gently, from side to side,
Scattering glimmers of peace
From the corners of its eyes.

It keeps growing upward,
Higher and higher,
Rising beyond its branches,
Beautiful in the fullness
Of its own existence.

At night,
The birds sleep soundly
Inside their cages,
Undisturbed by the darkness.

This tree is a world,
A world within another world—

Just as within a human being
There dwells the human mind,
An unseen world
Within the world we see.

Life moves within life.

A dawn—
A whole universe of light.

A night—
An arrangement of sleep,
A quiet realm of rest.

And yet,
Why does light fail to break
On certain mornings?

Why does sleep never come
On certain nights?

The lives that disappear
One by one from our lives—

Why do they remain strangers
Even among the things we know?

Just when a hand rises
To rest upon the forehead,
The furrows of thought unfold,

And yesterday’s bloodshed
Floats back
Before our eyes.

Sorrow seems to crawl,
Slowly, across the ground.

Sorrow seems to crawl,
Slowly, across the ground.

Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh
17/09/2026

Md. Mahbubul Alam is from Bangladesh. His writer name is Mahbub John in Bangladesh. He is a Senior Teacher (English) of Harimohan Government High School, Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. Chapainawabganj is a district town of Bangladesh. He is an MA in English Literature from Rajshahi College under National University. He has published three books of poems in Bangla. He writes mainly poems but other branches of literature such as prose, article, essay etc. also have been published in national and local newspapers, magazines, little magazines. He has achieved three times the Best Teacher Certificate and Crest in National Education Week in the District Wise Competition in Chapainawabganj District. He has gained many literary awards from home and abroad. His English writings have been published in Synchronized Chaos for seven years.

Once when he was in grade ten in 1990, his Bangla letter was selected as the best one from Deutsche Welle, Germany Radio that broadcast Bangla news for the Banglalee people. And he was given 50 Dutch Mark as his award. They would ask letters from the listeners to the news in Bangla and select one letter for the best one in every month.     

From 17 to 30 September, in 2018 he received a higher training in teaching English language in Kasetsart University of Thailand for secondary level students through a government order from education ministry. 

On 06 November 2015 he achieved Amjad Ali Mondal Medal for his contribution in education field by a development organization in the conference and felicitation function for the honorable personalities at Rajshahi College Auditorium. 

On 30 December 2017 from West Bengal in India he was declared a ‘Literary Charioteer’ in Bangobandhu Literary and World Bango Conference and they awarded him with a Gold Medal in their International Literary Conference and Prize Giving Ceremony.

In 2018, he achieved Prodipto Lirerary Award in Prodipto Literary Conference at Kesorhat, Rajshahi for poems in Bangla literature. He received honorary crest from the administration of Chapainawabganj District Literary Conference and Cultural Function in 2021 and 2022 consecutively. 

His poems have been published in many international online magazines such as Juntos Por las L Raven Cage Zine, and Area Felix.  His poems have been translated and published in Argentine and Serbian, and he participated in many international online cultural meetings. 

PEACE, LOVE AND HUMANITY

Do not seek peace only in the sky;
it begins where one heart
chooses not to hurt another.

It begins with an outstretched hand,
with a word that heals,
with a door opened to a stranger,
with a heart that does not ask
where the other comes from,
but what pain they carry within.

Love knows no boundaries,
no color, language, or name.
It is the light
that finds its way even to the most weary heart;
it is the warmth
that remains when everything else fades away.

And humanity…
is seeing the human being in every person,
hearing their silence,
sharing bread, hope,
a kind word,
and a piece of your heart.

Because the world does not need
more walls,
but more bridges.
It does not need more hatred,
but people who know how to forgive.
It does not need louder voices,
but hearts that know how to listen.

Let us plant peace
where fear has taken root,
love where there is pain,
and light where there is darkness.

And if one day
a child asks us
what we gave to this world,
may we be able to say:

“We gave you a hand when you needed one,
an embrace when you were alone,
hope when everything seemed lost,
and above all,
we gave you love.”

Because in the end,
we will not be remembered
for what we possessed,
but for what we gave.

Peace is a choice.
Love is strength.
Humanity is the greatness
the world needs most.

And perhaps,
if each of us
lights even one small light,
one day there will be so much light
that darkness will have nowhere left to hide.

Author: Xhuli Spahiu 

Kosovo

DISCONNECTED

I hit the city on the day it was done

Everyone running out to see

The wobbling walls of the governor’s tower

His glass highway cracking into the distance

They only had hours left

To feel the old feelings

The old dreams

The old ways

Somewhere in the years of building

The city cement dried like lakes into a sea

Weighing down the land beneath

Drawing all that much closer to the abyss

Corruption does breed corruption

The children fled into themselves

Mothers hardened

Fathers left

Gangs mounted and counted their tattoos

Music bled

A picture told a thousand lies

streets were filled with armies of cars

The sky was hazed over with smoke

Birds fell dead on the sidewalks

Kicked into the gutters to rot

Their wings ignored.

Summer memories

I remembered the summer nights,

The locusts were chirping.

After the scorching heat,

The cool breeze was soothing.

When the moon is full, the sky too

It would be as white as milk.

So lovely, oh summer,

Remembering you in winter.

I was counting the stars,

My eyes are slowly getting sleepy.

When the breath of dawn awakens,

I’m craving watermelon again.

The watermelon is ripe and on the vine,

He lies down, his stomach pounding.

Melon in the leaves

He’s always lying there, getting old.

We climbed onto the branch of a tree,

We picked apples, cherries, pears.

The bucket is full of fruit,

My mother is boiling compote.

Deputy Director of the Karshi Medical College.

Shahriyor qizi was born on November 28, 2006 in Kashkadarya region. She is currently studying at Turan University, Department of Philology: Language Teaching (Uzbek). She works as the deputy director of Karshi Medical College.

She is a recipient of the National Hope Badge. Several of her articles have been published in international journals. Articles from Turkey’s “Fountain of Knowledge”, Germany’s “GERMAN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL” and the article “Science and Education” of Uzbekistan, “Today’s Youth and Reading Issues” is published in “FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE STUDIES”

Published in scientific journals and conferences. His creative works include the story “Gift” published in the republican spiritual-educational, social-popular publication “Inson Manafati”.

In the Kashkadarya newspaper “Oha”, the poem “Bolaylik soginchi” was published, in the creative magazine “Umid uchquni” the story “kushcha” was published, in the foreign newspaper “The Diaspora Times Global” the creative sample “Men shaytonni kordim” was published, in addition to the poems “Maqsadim yolida”, “Yana bir yoshishmin kutlamakan”, “Nogoh ruqorarmiz” were published on the website http://Synchchaos.com , and the poem “osmonim mening” was published in the foreign magazine “Raven Cage” (ravencagezine@gmail.com ).

Holder of B1 Certificate in English and Turkish, Founder of the “World Behind the Page” project at Karshi Medical College. Member of the “Leader Girls Club” at Turan University, a group of active girls. In addition, she is the captain of the “Mushoira Club”.

She is regularly engaged in scientific and creative activities, prepares scientific articles. She is interested in reading books and poetry. In the future, she aims to become an accomplished specialist in her field and always bring gratitude to her parents.

Silence Speaks For A Mother

A mother’s silence screams in pain,

As she mourns her beloved son in vain.

Tears fall like rain, a heart that’s torn,

A perpetual ache, a soul forlorn.

Her emotions speak, though words won’t come,

A grief so deep, it’s left unsung.

Sorrows have no voice, no words to say,

She’s a picture of pain, night and day.

A precious jewel lost, a shining light,

In this world, her darkness takes flight.

Yet, in her journey to the heavenly shore,

She’ll find her son, forever more.

In eternity’s embrace, they’ll meet again,

Where love and joy will soothe her pain.

Though silence speaks, her heart will find,

Solace in heaven, where love entwines.

CR@ Anwar Rahim

Poem 2

She Is On Voyage 

Sea breeze gently come by 

She is feeling cool and shy 

She is smiling her soul at peace 

Deep blue sea and light blue sky 

Far and far no end she see

Sea is meeting with horizon so high

Standing at deck with deep thoughts 

Gentle waves and smooth sailing

Journey joyful, pleasant feelings

Remember’s her love, looks at the sea 

Is love deep like sea or high as sky 

Emotions make’s her feel she can fly 

Up above the sea so high

Like hovering seagulls in the sky

CR@ Anwar Rahim

Poem 3

Red Moon

Yes that was one night

She could have come there at an agreed site

Shown her anger and reminded me of our last fight

Then be friendly, at mystical site, as always did before on every night

I waited for her, I was used to that

Wouldn’t mind if she could have come and remained quiet

She had to show a big heart, she knew I would placate her, saying forget and forgo sweetheart

I knew she would stay, to show her sneaky smiles

Would just be teasing, pretending her arrogance for a while

I would enjoy as she often acted like that in different styles

She would be in jolly good mood, after a hug and a passionate kiss in moonlit night 

We would sit for hours and have lovely chat for whole night

Suddenly I looked at my watch and got alarmed

I was lost in my thoughts and time so quickly passed

Why my love has not arrived, what has forced her to stop

I was upset, saw Red Moon, now fully emanated at sky top

I got up started running towards her house, with superstitious thoughts

She was sitting on a bench in her lawn lost in her thoughts

She raised her head with tears in her eyes rolling down

She disclosed, she was engaged to her uncle’s son that night

By the will of her parents and she kept quiet

I did not believe in superstitions, never in my life

Blood Moon occurred only due to lunar eclipse

When Earth come in line between the Moon and the Sun

Who came in between me and my love

I quietly returned back to see the Red Moon at the sea shore

The Red Blood Moon was glowing more, teasing testing my patience, raising my emotions much more

That night lasted for another few hours, its effects would last for whole of my life, how could I ignore

Anwar Rahim was born in February 1951 and hails from Gilgit Baltistan- Pakistan. A University Graduate in Economics and Political Science, served also as Major in the Army as “Group Testing Officer” in “Interservices Selection Board” for selecting candidates for Armed Forces Training Academies, Army, Navy and Air Force. A veteran turned poet in 2016, found my birth muse and vibes by narrating my inner-self, after my retirement from Armed Forces. 

The poetic journey is short but I feel poetry has taught me much more than I could have learnt in any education institution. My literary performance fetched me, global awards from Gujarat Sahitya Academy – India in 2020, 2021and 2022. 

National Poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazar ul Islam birth Anniversary award 2022. Order of Mohatma award by Lasosyanyos Lar San Frontyer an International Art Society recognized by government of Seychelles.

Order of Shakespeare medal 2021 by Motivational Strips, world most active literary forum. Participated in virtual V Eurasian Literary Festival- 2021 at Istanbul, Turkey, UHE  Festival International 2022 in Portugal and virtual Festival Paper Fiber in Greece.

In year 2022 received Culture and Free Press and Media award from “Sherine Abu Akel” from Syria and “Rabindranath Tagore” Award 2022 jointly from Motivational Strips and Department of Culture government of Seychelles.

From Republic of Colombia award for Poetry Peace and Culture with numerous awards received from other international poetry groups. My poems have featured in Anthologies, “Pakistani English Poets” and “Bouquet of Triple colours” of poets of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. My poems published in Anthology of SAARC countries. 

My poems featured in NBM Bangla TV Bangladesh and in Daily Bani Asia – Bangladesh. My passion in poetry is to pursue genres, in Romance, Humanitarian issues, Environmental friendly concerns and Children rhymes.

In the painting entitled: “SOUL & SPIRIT” the viewer often identifies with the painter’s emotions, which depict religious, spiritual values, which at the same time become rational values ​​for her.

“Beauty” for Sofia Fountoulaki aims at the completeness of her
spiritual, moral and psycho-emotional world, where her plastic
expression corresponds to the emotion she transmits to the viewer,
who views the work with absolute silence, contemplation and
absorption. The artist acts with the idea and the intellect, the
moment she knows that in art there is not always imitation of nature.

That is, the expression of the abstract has nothing to do with the
passive acceptance of the viewer, but with his active participation, in
order to have the ability to understand the meaning of the work. This
particular painting is characterized by its spiritual character. The
composition of the work is simpler and is limited to two or three
stripes of color in horizontal succession and two in vertical
succession, where the painter tries to give the sense of the
landscape, with the correspondence of sea, sky and earth.

The transition in colors is from one color to another without an end, but also without a beginning. In her work, both her technique and her
psyche are not completely independent. She expresses human
emotions in her palette, in order to create points of communication
with the public, so that her work becomes accessible, understandable and acceptable to the viewer.

Dr. Stella Piperaki Art historian.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Sofia Fountoulaki was born in Chania, Crete, and lives and works in Athens. She is a painter and writer. She has studied Economics – Insurance, Administration and Management of Insurance Organizations at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB).

She was an executive in the financial sector, from which she resigned to focus solely on Art. She has studied Art at the HELLENIC AMERICAN COLLEGE OF ATHENS and at the VACALO ART & DESIGN COLLEGE. She has studied Art History with the Art Historian and Theorist Mr. Pantelis Tsavalos.

She is the group’s visual arts director for UNESCO PIRAEUS & ISLANDS, a member of UNESCO TECHNOLOGIES AND SCIENCES GREECE, the Association of Visual Artists of Greece APELIS and other selected visual arts organizations and associations.

She has organized solo exhibitions and has presented a sample of her work in a sufficient number of exhibitions in Greece and abroad.

She has been awarded for her visual arts work by the INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL OLYMPIAD IN DELPHI in 2022, UNESCO PIRAEUS AND ISLANDS in 2019, etc.

Indicatively, her works are hosted at the AGRICENTO Archaeological Site in Sicily, the Museum of National Resistance in Heliopolis, the Archaeological Museum of Chania, the VILLA RODOPI Contemporary Art Gallery in Argostoli, the Art Gallery of the Municipality of Chania, the Art Gallery of the Municipality of Cholargos – Papagos, the Orthodox Academy of Crete, the Museum of Popular Tradition of Kaminarata of Kefalonia, UNESCO PIRAEUS AND ISLADS, etc.

She has published theoretical texts on art and not only in the printed press, in electronic media, in collective volumes and elsewhere, such as in the Encyclopedia CHARI PATSI, in the historical publication PHILOLOGIKI PROTOCHRONIA, in “Window to Art”, a publication of the Philological Group of Greece, in the Literary Creation of the Union of Greek Writers, etc.

She serves as a Peace Ambassador at the World Literary Forum for Peace and Human Rights, an Alternate Board Member of the World Philosophical Forum and a Certified Citizen of the Earth, a Cultural Attaché of the World Organization for Cultural Diplomacy IACD.

She is a member of the Epicurean Philosophy “Garden of Athens”, the “Association of Friends of the Acropolis”, the Union of Greek Writers, the International Society of Writers and Artists, etc.

She is also a member of the Observatory of International Organizations and Globalization (PADOP), a member of the Political Association of Women PSG, etc.

e-mail: Sofia.fountoulaki@gmail.com

Woman and Man

The river has always been a symbol of the eternal woman,

And the man, a mountain.

Now, the woman is the mountain,

And the flowing Padma is the man.

Clouds are metaphors of her long, dark hair,

Thunderstorm symbolizes the roar of his muscles.

Now, the horizon is the valor of Indrajit, the arms of man

While lightning adorns woman as ornament.

The desert echoes Sita’s  desolate lament,

The ocean acts like The God Poseidon.

Today, the desert sand is the exile of manliness,

The ocean is the burning Ithaca of a waiting woman.

In a new arrangement, let the man tree be a figure like Gautama Buddha

And the woman, its green  foliage.

Let the rain be man,

And the woman, the ceaseless wind.

Once, the man was Karna –

Son of the Sun,

While the woman was merely a body.

Today, she becomes  blazing sunlight,

And the man, a head full of shadows.